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Atlas Gym; Tuesday [07/18].

Were he a more anxious man, Gladio might have been wondering when the other shoe was going to drop. But, really, he'd had so much shit go wrong in his life over the last ten years or so that, if anything, he just felt he was long overdue for some things going well, and he was going to just appreciate the ride while it lasted.

Even everything at the gym seemed to be going well that day, too, which meant he didn't have a lot of work to do or things to take care of, so he had a little extra time to spend figuring out how to adapt some of the things he'd picked up from the Mandalorians during Lana's class yesterday to adapt to his training with Ignis and Prompto to give them a little something new to work with, too, going over a few maneuvers and predictive reactions with his sword over by the mats in between dealing with this, that, the other thing, and the occasional distribution of stars.

Atlas is open!

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Summer was back on her routine, bouncing in bright and early, though rocking something a little more understated with the pink than usual, but still super cute and clearly showcasing that she was clearly here to work out and look good doing it.

She was feeling a bit of a cardio vibe today, though, so, after hitting up the weights for a few precursory sets, she was taking to that treadmill with no mercy for either herself or the equipment.

Well, eventually, when she had a moment between hitting those weights and punishing that treadmill (if she didn't take a break, he was going to have to remind her of the importance of hydration), Gladio was there with another sticker for her and a nod with his greeting. "Summer. Nice and focused this week, I see."

Which could mean a variety of different things, but, hey, as long as she wasn't slacking off on form and proper technique, he wasn't going to say anything or speculate.

Nell was here at her usual time to get in her workout before she opened her store. She wasn't nearly as banged up as she sometimes was on a Tuesday since she'd spent more time watching Gladio spar with the Mandalorians then sparring herself. Totally worth it, though, and it made her smile just thinking about it.

Plus, you know, Gladio was here.

Edited 2023-07-18 12:55 (UTC)

It's true! He was there! And Gladio was coming up to Nell with a gold star, a nod, and a grin.

Oh, and a greeting.

"Morning, Nell."

"Morning, Gladio!" And there was a smile and a moment where she was just so happy that was all she could do for that moment.

"Nice to get the chance to finally meet those warrior women of yours yesterday," Gladio said, after his own moment of just sort of enjoying Nell having her moment of smiling back at him. "I can see now why you're always so stoked to work with them."

"They're pretty amazing, aren't they?" Nell said, finally taking her good star. "They were pretty impressed with you, I think."

Nell had been pretty impressed with him and it had been a joy to watch all the sparring

"Well," Gladio reasoned, "I am pretty impressive."

And so modest, too! But he knew he'd really brought his A game yesterday, and he was still riding the high of some good, challenging fights and getting to really let loose like he used to, so there was no point in denying the obvious.

"Think you'll want to brush up a bit on some of the techniques they worked on today? Or you got something else in mind?"

"You are," she agreed with a smile. "And yes, I particularly liked the one where they," she partially demonstrated a bit of footwork, "but I get hung up on the shift after that. Thought maybe you could help me with it."

"As well as I can," said Gladio, after watching Nell's demonstration and remembering more than a few times when that manuever had come into play during his sparring, and laughing faintly. "That one tripped me up a few times at first, too. Pretty sure that one's meant for someone much smaller and spryer than I am...which was probably why they pulled it out as much as they could."

"Well," Nell said consideringly. "I am a little smaller than you."

She tilted her head. "And a bit more spry, probably as well," she teased and darted slightly out of reach.

"But I've got the longer stride," Gladio pointed out, and his first instinct was to prove i, but he hesitated, that possibility of making Nell feel uncomfortable with such a blatant display of how easily someone like him could overpower her holding him back. But then he thought about how it might better prepare her for an occasion when someone like him that she didn't trust tried anything...

So there was that split second, of indecision and reasoning, before he did move, using that longer stride to not only make up for the space her little maneuver had afforded her, but turning with it to end up trying to get behind her.

"And faster'n I look, too."

That brief second of indecision cost him and he didn't quite make it behind her, but it did get a sightly breathless laugh from her. "You are at that," she said with a cheeky grin, and did her best to slide right under his arm and around him to switch positions, "but I still might have a tiny bit of speed on you in the twisty bits."

Maybe it was laugh that did it, or the cheeky grin or the taunting or just the fact that Gladio could easily see how that hesitation had given Nell a gap that she clearly had no similar reservations about seizing, so he'd resolved to just act on his first impulse in whatever he did next. And that was to lift his arm slightly as she moved underneath it, perhaps seemingly to help her out at first, except that it kept moving, to twist him around right with her moment, turning toward her, with her. His other arm was sweeping down where his other went up, and himself with it, bending one knee, lowering the other, so that if he timed it and positioned it right and she didn't make any last minute steps or hops back, he just might be able to close in with that other arm around her.

She almost made it out, but his arms came around her just when she thought she'd slipped all the way out. Still, even as she found herself trapped, she couldn't help but laugh in the delight of it all.

Outside of the move actually succeeding, that delighted laugh was easily the best result that it could have garnered. And in any other situation, Gladio's next move might have been something very different, but for now? He met that laugh with a lopsided grin, and maybe pulled her in a little bit closer.

"Guess all that yoga's been paying off, huh?"

"Okay, okay," Nell said, still laughing as he pulled her in a little closer. "You'un is fast, Yoga Guy!"

She looked up at his smile, which only increased her delight. She put her hands on his forearms and just laughed more. Then there was a second when she looked down and realized just how close they were and for a moment her hands and body tightened. Then she looked back up at his face and his smile and everything just relaxed again.

In any other situation, with any other person, there might have been a very different course of action, indeed. So much for just going with his impulses, but Gladio hadn't made it through as much as he had without knowing when to charge forward and when to pull back. And once he felt Nell stiffen in his arms, there was no other option. Even if she did relax just a moment later, he let her go, pulled himself back, and pushed himself back up

"So," he said, "about this step you wanted to work on..."

When he let her go a part of her was disappointed, and she darted a quick look at his face to make sure he wasn't upset that she'd tightened up for a second. She trusted him, she did, and she felt comfortable with him, but her body just got a little spooked.

Nell put a hand on his forearm and extended the other for a pull up. "Maybe I might need a little more help with that," she said with a smile.

Stark was definitely there today, maybe a little later than usual for no particular reason.

He was feeling more relaxed than he had the past couple of weeks and nodded to Gladio with a slight smile as he headed to the weights today.

It was a good thing Stark did manage to make it in, even if it was late for no particular reason. This way, he didn't lose his sticker streak!

And so, of course, Gladio was handing one over on the tip of his finger at an opportune time.

"Stark," he greeted,"how's it going?"

"It's going well," Stark said.

"At least I think so. No need to punch anything today. And you?"

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Atlas Gym; Tuesday [07/18].

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